August 15, 2010
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Update on the rusty ol' caboose
Some of you may remember this old rusty caboose I posted about back in May. They were getting ready to put it on display at the Catlettsburg train depot.
I found a picture of it in it's original location online. It had been abandoned on some property owned by Marathon Petroleum for over two decades!
Nasty!
Took these about two months ago. It was cleaning up pretty well!
They started painting her last week. Decided on red rather than the traditional C&O blue. Near the end of the caboose era, C&O had repainted most cabooses still in service red, but this one never made it back to the carshops in Wurtland, Ky for repaint before cabooses were phased out entirely.
Stopped by the bank on the way home yesterday and saw they have her almost finished. Still a lot of little detail work to be done, but it's looking pretty good.
You've came a long way, baby!
They say they're going to use it as a small museum for local historical artifacts, so they installed a heat pump for climate control.
Looks right at home down there at the end of the depot's apron!
Great job, guys.
The C&O was a large part of my life in my younger days. My grandfather worked as a carpenter for the C&O all his life, as did my dad for quite awhile in the late 1940's and 50's.
If you're wondering why the railroad needed carpenters, you're probably pretty young. Back in the 'old days' most freight was carried on the railroads in wooden gondolas and boxcars, and C&O's were built right here at the Wurtland carshops. The kind the hobo's used to ride the rails on back in the dust bowl days. You don't see many of them any more, most railcars are made with steel and aluminium these days.
The C&O is responsible for my family even being here in Northeastern Kentucky. Originally from Richmond Va, when the Great Depression hit, the C&O closed it's Richmond carshop and told my grandfather if he wanted to continue working for them he had a job waiting for him at the Wurtland, Ky carshop, part of the Russell Railyard, at that time the largest independently owned railyard in the world. So he packed up the family and moved west. Dad's two older brothers moved back to Richmond later, but dad and his younger sister stayed here with Grampa Ferguson. I'm glad he did. I've enjoyed living here in Ky, with the Ohio River on one side of me and the railroad tracks on the other. It's home to me. Always has been and always will be.
And I can't even imagine living life and not being a University of Kentucky Wildcat fan!
Comments (74)
One of the things I would do if I had unlimited $ resources would be to restore an old cabbose and move it nearby my log cabin. It would make a great hunting camp, or even a cottage or guest house... to go along with my dream of a refurbished buried submarine... Just the conning tower sticking up out of the ground... tell me that wouldn't be cool!
These are some great pictures.
I love your rusty old caboose! and the train isn't bad either! lol!
You must take a train ride!
I understand why you love trains .It is family story.
The restoration has been wonderful
In friendship Michel
@buddly47 - Well, we're holdin' them thar gators off valiantly (not gracefully, but...)
wonderful picture/story, Harold. Thanks for sharing it with us.
@buddly47 - roger moore, that's like early james bond.- I didn't mention that- but michael moore? him I could see a strong aversion to.
@railfan - I've had a few of them up there. Living in Russell, Ky trains are a little hard to ignore. lol
I love seeing a train entry make the front page!
@buddly47 - You hardly tell if you're standing in front of the train or behind it now. Cabooses and tugboats. I don't quite know why but there is something similar about them. Maybe they are the unsung heroes?
@In_My_Own_Little_Corner - Don't thank me, pleasures all mine. I love these old trains!
@Irish_Russian - Thanks, man! How's everything going in Gator country?
@TheSutraDude - They did, didn't they. Now there's just a red light on the back. Boring!
@seedsower - Hope you get to do that one of these days. Looks like a great trip!
@ShadesOfAnnie - You're more than welcome! Most people are liking the red better, it seems.
@I_once_was - Absolutely can not abide Roger Moore, my friend. Absolutely cannot. But, I like most things that go with whiskey, as you know!
They did a fanastic job! Thank you for sharing not only the pictures, but your history as well. Have a great week!
That's lovely. I always loved cabooses, the little cars at the very end of the train that seemed to give the train its character.
Wow, I absolutely adore trains and this one is awesome. What fantastic pictures! I love the bright red color. Much nicer I think than the blue. Thank you so much for this wonderful post. It made my entire day!
Very cool Bud!
@buddly47 - I have traveled to Philly on a train and took lots of rides on THIS railroad but never long distance, one of my goals is to ride THIS one in the Canadian Rockies.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092967/
don't forget this one goes with whiskey and perhaps a double feature "october sky" or if you pull no punches and can stand the film, "roger & me ( which if you follow the plot of end of the line you see it paralell in "roger & me" but it seems history shows moore to pander and slant having "set up" his show downs (wiki-ing)
@seedsower - You've done a lot of traveling, have you ever traveled by train?
@adamworld@lovelyish - That's a good one! lol
Comments are closed.